March 2024

Ancient Scroll
Moshe Castel (1909-1991)
Safed, 1940s
Enamel on paper
Gift of Polly and Jacob Stein in memory of Edith and James L. Magrish

 

In honor of the forthcoming holiday of Purim, our March Object of the Month is Ancient Scroll, a piece by Moshe Castel that depicts a scene from the Biblical book of Esther. Drawn from chapter 6 of Esther, the figures are Haman and Mordechai. Haman, the Persian king’s wicked advisor, reluctantly leads his enemy, Mordechai, on horseback through the streets of Shushan as a reward for saving the king’s life. Mordechai is dressed in the king’s very own robes to honor his deed, while Haman is identifiable through his famous triangular hat. On Purim, cookies called hamantaschen are baked to look like Haman’s hat.

Born in Jerusalem in 1909 to a Sephardic Jewish family, Castel was highly influenced by the art of Picasso, Miro, and Gauguin. He made his artistic home in the city of Safed, where he helped to establish the New Horizons group. Much of his art focused on joining the worlds of European art to ancient Near Eastern motifs.

This particular piece is part of Castel’s series completed in the 1940s, which concerned Biblical subjects in Surrealist and Cubist styles. Many of his works include symbols and signs from ancient Hebrew, Canaanite, and Sumerian culture. He also enjoyed employing unlikely materials in his art, such as ground basalt molded into shapes.

This post was written by Rachael Houser, a fourth-year rabbinical student at HUC-JIR Cincinnati. She is thrilled to work as an intern on behalf of the Skirball Museum this school year.

Ancient Scroll

Ancient Scroll
Moshe Castel (1909-1991)
Safed, 1940s
Enamel on paper
Gift of Polly and Jacob Stein in memory of Edith and James L. Magrish